2011 AGM Schwechat-Austria

FIR - RACKETLON

MINUTES (Important Attachment Power Point Presentation AGM 2011) FIR Annual General Meeting 2011 Friday 25th November, 10.00 – 12.00 Schwechat/Austria The AGM started at 9:00 a.m. with a guided Tour by Tabletennis World Champion 2003 Werner Schlager through his Werner Schlager Acadamy, where the AGM was held.

Present People except Country Representatives FIR Council Members Marcel Weigl (President), Marc Veldkamp (Vice-President), Potential members Jesper Ratzer (Den), Manoel L. Santana (Bra), Marcelo Klimkievicz (Bra), Horia Naumescu (Rom), Pop Moldovan (Rom) Others Andro Kassabian (Bul), Lieselot de Bleeckere (Bel), Ahmad Bahadli (Irq)

23 Present Countries Total votes 98 Austria Walter Zimmermann, Vice-President votes 7 Belgium Inge van den Herrewegen, Representative votes 6 Bulgaria Puzant Kassabian, President votes 2 Canada Dany Lessard, President votes 7 Czech Republic Svatopluk Rejthar, President votes 4 England Julian Kashdan-Brown, Council Member votes 8 Estonia Priit Toomjoe, Vice-President votes 2 Finland Poku Salo, Country Representative votes 4 Germany Michael Eubel, Council Member votes 11 Hong Kong-China voting power to Austria votes 2 Hungary Gabor Hamsik, President votes 5 Israel Iftach Gesser, Country Representative votes 2 Italy voting power to Sweden votes 4 Latvia Arturs Zaicevs votes 3 Netherlands Eric Roelofson, Council Member votes 6 Pakistan voting power to Finland votes 2 Poland Krystof Samonek, Country Representative votes 3 Russia Maxim Levitin votes 2 Scotland Calum Reid, Country Representative votes 4 Slovakia Robert Ollary Jun., Country Representative votes 2 Slovenia Peter Robic votes 2 South Africa Patric Kalous votes 2 Sweden Lennart Eklundh votes 8

6 Countries not present Total votes 19 France votes 3 Greece votes 2 India votes 2 Malaysia votes 2 Switzerland Karim Hanna was robbed on the way votes 8 USA votes 2 98 out of 117 possible votes were present at the AGM 2011, which is 83,8% and more than 50%. The AGM can thus take final decisions on all points on the Agenda. ______

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1) Welcome Note, Members (Marcel Weigl) FIR currently has 29 member states, with South Africa only new member 2011. Armenia has sent application letter and is accepted by FIR Council as FIR member 30 from 1st January 2012. Marcel reminds that the process is too slow and asks for help of everyone to achieve goal of 40 member states in 2012 to become Sports Accord Member. Romania and Ireland have handed in papers. Denmark and New Zealand are expected next, because from 2012 all elite players must have an existing national federation. South Africa mentioned contacts with Zimbabwe (More info in Power Point AGM 2011).

2) Letter of NOC or NSF Recognition (Marcel Weigl) So far only 6 FIR members Austria, Bulgaria Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland and Latvia have a letter of national recognition by the respective NOC – National Olympic Comitee or NSF – National Sports Federation. All other have not shown FIR an answer from official authorities. Marcel Weigl explains again why NOC or NSF recognition for each national federation is so important and the only way to become Sportsaccord member and an official sport. Marcel asks all country representatives again to do their homework please and get a written answer from their NOC or NSF even if that answer is negative. Marcel will travel to Sportsaccord in Lausanne before Summer 2012 and needs to be able to present answers. (More info in Power Point AGM 2011).

3) Confirmation of Minutes AGM 2010 and Finances 2010 (Marcel Weigl) The minutes of the AGM 2010 and the Finances 2010 which show 3988 Euro on the FIR bank account on 31st December 2010 were confirmed by all country representatives unanimously (More info in Power Point AGM 2011).

4) Report of the Council 2011 (Council Members) Marcel Weigl presented a Powerpoint Presentation on behalf of the Council from 2011, with all present council members giving a short report on their working areas. The Power Point AGM 2011 is sent together with these Minutes per E-mail to all country representatives. Comments by the country representatives regarding the report:

5) Finances review 2011, preview 2012 (Lennart Eklundh) The preliminary result for 2011 is positive and shows that the budget of around 34.000€ can be held and is even. Around 12.000 Euro have only come in over licenses, which secure the head office in Vienna. In 2011 the budget at the end of the year shall be even.

A preliminary calculation by Treasurer Lennart Eklundh for 2012 has already been made. The budget income is predicted with 34.380 Euro and a total plus of 1500 Euro shall be achieved in the worst case. (See more in Power Point AGM 2011).

6) Members Report 2011 All present country representatives agreed that this point shall be moved to the end of the agenda.

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7) Discharge of the Council (Volker Sach) On basis of the report and the financial report of 2011, the head of the elections Volker Sach from the FIR court of Arbitration asked the AGM to discharge the FIR Council, which was confirmed by all country representatives unanimously.

8) FIR Council Elections (Volker Sach) a) Council preview 2012-2014 (Marcel Weigl) The complete Council preview can be seen in the Power Point Presentation AGM 2011. Main issues are to increase the number of member states to 40 recognised by the national NOCs and NSFs. The webpage www.racketlon.net was relaunched and Racketlon shall now be spread on the social media Twitter, Facebook and so forth. The World Tour events must be even better quality and money needs to be found for the World Tour. Other major improvements concern Resultreporter and the rankings system. (See more in Power Point AGM 2011). b) Candidates (Volker Sach) Head of elections Volker Sach reports that only one group around Executive-President Marcel Weigl has run for the elections. All of the present candidates spoke for a couple of minutes to present themselves. Short presentations of all candidates can be found in the Power Point AGM 2011.  Marcel Weigl, Austria: Executive-President  Lennart Eklundh, Sweden: Vice-President/Treasurer  Poku Salo, Finland: Rankings/Olympic Draws  Karim Hanna, Switzerland: Rules  Gianpaolo Martire, Italy: Marketing  Gary Tovey, England: Social/New Media  Puzant Kassabian, Bulgaria: New Members/Balkan Countries  Dany Lessard, Canada: Tournament Support/America  Ahmad Bahadli, Iraq: World Tour/Subsidaries/Arab Countries After listening to all candidates the AGM confirmed the FIR Council from 2012 to 2014 unanimously.

9) Requests by FIR Members (Marcel Weigl on behalf of Karim Hanna) In the name of FIR Council, President Marcel Weigl made the following request to the AGM: FIR Council requests a change of the voting power of the General Meeting, because all 29 member states now have registered a legal federation and there is no more need to get a basic vote for that. In addition the maximum votes per country shall be limited to six. The exact wording can be found in the Power Point AGM 2011. The AGM confirmed the change of the voting power in the FIR statutes unanimously.

10) Any other Business (Marcel Weigl) Marcel reports of his e-mail contact with Hans Mullamaa about www.racketlon.com, which is hardly updated and giving a bad image to the international Racketlon sport. ______

FIR - RACKETLON

6) Members Report 2011 All present countries gave a small report on the situation in their countries: Austria Christoph Krenn employed and paid as General Secretary since one year. In 2011 around 30 national tournaments with an average of 40 players per tournament took place in all 9 provinces. 24 Racketlon clubs exist and the Bundesliga team tournament is the strongest in the world with two leagues and a total of 12 teams plus 5 junior teams (u21). Austria hosted World Champs 2011 and will hold two World Tour events 2012 plus the World Sports Festival including Racketlon for juniors u13 to u21 from 5th to 8th July.

Belgium In Belgium 14 tournaments were held 2011, but after five years one can now feel the stagnation, with less inscriptions. For that reason the Belgian federation is now looking for cooperation with the other racket sports federations.

Bulgaria After years of quietness Bulgaria is now fully back with Racketlon after Squash courts have been built on the National Sports Academy grounds in Sofia, where an IWT Tournament was held 2011 and where the Double and Team World Champs will take place 2012. Ministry of sports will support the event, hosted by the Bulgarian Racketlon Federation which is recognised by the Bulgarian National Sports Federation. Tournament Director and President Puzant Kassabian also joins the FIR Council from 2012 again.

Canada Dany Lessard took over as new national president and also joined the FIR Council. 8 national tournaments were held in 2011 with many new players in new cities like Quebec, Calgary, Montana. IWT Granby was on the FIR World Tour and is also there 2012. Another Challenger is also planned, plus assistance for the USA to start with a Challenger.

Czech Republic A lot of tournaments are offered and 10 Racketlon centres in the country (e.g. Prag, Ostrava, Brno) exist, but biggest problems are to get Juniors to play and the lack of money. In 2013 Prague is interested in Teams and Doubles World Champs again.

England In England about 100 facilities for Racketlon exist either public/private or at universities. The British Tour had 14 tournaments on the schedule, but the number of players has slightly decreased to 400. Next step is the recognition by Sport England and the link to all four other Racket sports associations.

Estonia Has a big crises because of the lack of money and no racket centre with all four sports is available.

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Finland Finnish Racketlon federation has been recognised by Sports Ministry this year, but still little financial support. This is needed to be able to cover the travelling costs for the many excellent players. Otherwise 8 to 10 local tournaments were held in 2011 as well as 4 national ones with at least 30 players per tournament.

France Not much engagement for the moment, but centres for tournaments exist.

Germany The Germans also feel stagnation, with around the same number of players as 2010. Germany held the biggest Bundesliga team tournament in the world with 26 teams in three leagues this year, but again has a big lack of organisers. No national tournaments exist yet because of that. What is very good is the local sponsor situation due to friends investing.

Greece Again no Racketlon centre exists, but Greece promised to come back with a national team to the World Champs in Sofia in July 2012.

Hong Kong-China University tournaments for students and staff are held regularly at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (seat of federation). Problem is rain, because no indoor Tennis courts are available. A Challenger cannot yet take place for insurance reasons, but Hong Kong will organise an Inter-continental encounter for student national teams from Asia in June 2012. Pakistan and India have already confirmed their participation.

Hungary Since 1st November this year Gabor Hamsik has taken over as president and is ready to re- organise Racketlon in Hungary and especially start proper marketing. There are venues in Budapest, Györ and Pecs but no national tournament has been held since 1,5 years. Champions League was held together with Austrian Federation as will Hungarian Open 2012.

India President Manoranjan Mishra has organised 2nd national championships and was able to come to the World Champs for teams in Milano with a team. Next steps are to find financial support and come with a team to world champs in Sofia 2012.

Israel National championships have taken place and 2012 an international Challenger shall follow in the end of March. The sport is not known in Israel yet, but best is done to increase contacts with Tabletennis and Badminton communities.

Italy Teams and Doubles World Champs were held in Milano with a big success and now hopefully boost Racketlon in Italy. Country Representative Gianpoalo Martire now joined FIR Council.

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Latvia Tournaments have been organised since 3 years in Latvia. In 2011 five were held with many new faces and around 150 players. The biggest problem only one facility exists in the country, in the capital Riga.

Netherlands Many sports centres exist but Netherlands also feel the stagnation. Nevertheless 800 players are on the national rankings and around 1500 tournament registrations were made 2011. New trends are the club competitions. Recognition by NOC will follow soon.

Malaysia Jon Quek has not answered any e-mails lately and it needs to be questioned if Malaysia wants to stay a FIR member.

Pakistan Biggest problem is lack of centres and visa for international tournaments. Again Pakistan representatives got no VISA for World Champs in Austria. Next year Pakistan shall send a team to University encounters in Hong Kong and meet Indian president Manoranjan Mishra.

Poland Poland promises a Challenger in 2012, but still has problems with finances and Squash courts.

Russia Racketlon exists in Russia since two years and a Challenger is planned in Moscow for 2012. A total of 8 players are now on the World Rankings and the first elite medal was taken at Hungarian Open with bronze in women elite. 3 big Racket centres exist and one shall be built in St. Petersburg in a year.

Scotland The main problem that there are still the same people as 10 years ago, which now lead to a standstill. Calum Reid organised a very successful national Tour 2010 with 6 tournaments, but has now moved to London. So it issue is too find new Racketlon fanatics.

Slovakia Marcel Kravec and Robert Ollary Jun. report that they want to organise tournaments and courses in schools, but only one tournament has been held ever. The Association is not active, but president Puha Zolt is not willing to hand over. Marcel Weigl confirms this as he could not reach him per phone or e-mail before the AGM. FIR Council shall decide about next steps.

Slovenia Federation has now been re-established by new president Primoz Gajsek. National Championships have been held with around 50 players from all other four sports. The issue will be to get neighbouring ex-Yugoslavian countries interested in Racketlon.

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South Africa Is the youngest FIR member and has sent two players to World Champs in Austria. More and more people are getting to know Racketlon and events are running in Cape Town on a regular basis. Next steps are an international Challenger tournament and contacts to neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe.

Sweden In Stockholm the centre has been rebuilt for World Champs Singles 2012. After Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm it is now time to build new centres in new places. 10 national tournaments were held 2011 and 128 players took part in the national championships. Again problems are lack of organisers and junior recruitments.

Switzerland Many successful tournaments are being held, as well as a Bundesliga team tournament. Problems are too small centres and too few people to help in the federation.

USA Federation sits in Boston, but is not very active. New provinces and other centres are now looked into especially by new Council Member Dany Lessard. Shona Kerr is holding a Racketlon course at Wesleyan university.

6) Potential Members Report 2011 Brasil Manoel Santana and Marcelo Klimkievicz made their way to the World Champs in Austria and acknowledge that in Brasil they had a long way to go. Two tournaments have been held in Brasilia with big success and a high number of junior participants.

Denmark Denmark is in the process of forming the national federation in order that their elite players can take part in the Olympic draws 2012. They will be connected to the Table Tennis federation and have formed a facebook group with already 60 members. Biggest problem is again the lack of Racket centres, but a Challenger might be held in 2012 already.

Romania Papers for foundation of the federation are handed in. Again biggest problem is the lack of a suitable sports centre.

Minutes taken by Rickard Tauson and checked by Lennart Eklundh written by Marcel Weigl on the 22nd of December 2011

Attachments: Powerpoint Presentation AGM 2011!

Next AGM scheduled during World Champs Singles in Stockholm Thursday 29th November to Sunday 2nd December 2012 (presumably Friday 30th November).

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